Wednesday, August 31, 2016

International Competition Winners

Congratulations to our Top
Ten award winners in the 18th annual The Art of the Portrait competition. Christine Egnoski recently interviewed these
artists asking them about the inspiration behind their award winning work and
their individual journey to a career in art.

William F. Draper Grand Prize Winner: Michael Klein

My
Inspiration

The
subject of "NYC Entrepreneur" is a dear friend of mine who does real
estate work here in the city. The idea behind the title to the painting
is that Stephen is always busy with a bunch of different projects and he is the
perfect example of a 21st century entrepreneur in NYC.

My
Path to Art

In my last
year of high school I saw an American
Artist magazine and there was a John Singer Sargent portrait on the cover,
it was a life changing moment for me. Growing up in a small town there were no
museums to visit that would have any master paintings, so this one the first
time in my life I was exposed to real painting. Inside the magazine there
was an article on contemporary portrait painters including information on the
business side of their careers. It inspired me to pursue painting as a
full time profession.

First Place Painting: Brooke Olivares

My
Inspiration

This painting is part of an ongoing
series of works started two years ago, based on my 93-year-old grandmother,
Nana.Most of the paintings about Nana
are based on her daily routine in and around her home and the quality
moments she spends with my sister in the kitchen, making tortillas and
preparing food from the garden. Although Carlotta's mobility is limited
to a wheelchair, her mind is not. In
this particular painting I wanted to depict her deep in thought on the
couch.

My
Path to Art

I have always loved to draw
and paint and was extremely fortunate to have parents who always encouraged me
to pursue art. My sister and I both had a love for art at a very early age and
they always took us to art classes together and we had each other for support.
I had many outstanding art teachers and later enrolled at the Ringling College
of Art and Design where I received a BFA in Illustration. I currently teach there as an adjunct
Instructor.

First Place Drawing: Olga Krimon

Inspiration

The boy in my drawing is a son of a family
friend and is a portrayal of a relationship between a boy and his dog. One
completing another, one relying on another. There is that calm trust and
complete devotion of an animal, and the security of a boy leaning over
him. This portrait was about experimenting with textures, the softness of
the boy’s skin, the fur of the dog, the fabrics of the pillows and the sofa.

My
Path to Art

I trained very hard in Kazan art school for
4 straight years, through many still lifes, plaster casts, art history exams
and so on. But I stopped creating art as soon as I received my diploma –
I thought, enough of the still lifes already! I didn’t know any
contemporary artists in Russia, so the prospect of an art career didn’t even
cross my mind. I received my MBA and established a successful career in
IT consulting. It was at that point I realized, art was my singular desire
and I worked diligently over the next few years on my technique. I love the
very process of creating art, be that a drawing or a painting. I love the fact
that the more I learn and work on improving myself, the more I see that I need
to reach and the bigger the art world becomes.

First Place Sculpture: Alicia Ponzio

Inspiration

Portrait
study I: Mr. Koch is a study in preparation for a larger two-figure
composition I was working on at the time, called the Echo Chamber in which two
subjects are engaged in an argument. The composition deals with barriers
to communication; and in it, I asked the model, ‘Terry Koch’ to portray a
stern, dogmatic nature...to draw on feelings of anger and portray the aggressor
in the conversation.

My
Path to Art

As long as I can remember, art has been my main interest; though
after high school, I took a different route for various reasons and became a
nurse in the United States' Navy. I gravitated back toward art during my
last years in service and began pursuing it more seriously after discharge.
When I discovered sculpture, I was overcome with a desire to learn as much as
possible and enrolled full time in the Florence Academy of Art sculpture
program. Currently, my studio is located in downtown San Francisco and I work
mainly in bronze and plaster and continue to develop my work both in portrait
and figure.

Second Place: Casey Childs

Inspiration

I was asked to paint Mrs. VanderNaald's portrait but was
forewarned that she may be apprehensive about the process.As soon as she stepped into my studio, I
could see she seemed nervous and I mentally prepared for the worst. We chatted
for a moment to take both our minds off the task at hand, and while she told me
about herself and her family she relaxed into a beautiful pose. The awkwardness
was gone and I was able to capture a sweet, sincere moment with her that can
only happen between artist and sitter.

My
Path to Art

I have loved drawing from an early age, and it was during my
first "real" art classes in college when I knew I wanted to become a
painter. However, after continuing my education and receiving my BA at Brigham Young
University, I was enticed by the notion of a paid profession and took a graphic
design job. I worked in graphic design
for 10 years, and now paint professionally full time. I remain grateful for that design job, as the
background and knowledge it yielded helped my work to grow and improve over the
years.

Third Place: Adam Vinson

Inspiration

“Social Commentary” was inspired by a trend I noticed in the
media of what seemed like a spike in stories regarding violence and firearms.
Coupled with a culture of bullying, rampant social networking that encourages a
voluntary sacrifice of privacy and a conversation of individual as well as
national identity, anger and basic disregard for compassion is what is at heart
of the painting. The subject is a self-portrait made-up as a stereotypical
“nerd”. The tape painted over the mouth symbolizes silence but the stoic gaze
and the BBs lodged in the target represent resilience in the face of
adversity.

My
Path to Art

I studied drawing and painting with Anthony Waichulis from
1999-2001 and then at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts until 2005. I’ve
been exhibiting since 2000. I have always been interested in all forms of
creative expression. There was no great splash that landed me into this as a
“career” but rather small steps of curiosity, meeting the right people along
the way to help harness that curiosity into a tangible craft, and some great
opportunities to reaffirm this pursuit.

Fourth Place & People's Choice Award: Rose Frantzen

Inspiration

This work, entitled "Locket"
represents a range of contrasting themes including, life, death, youth, aging,
future and past. In a way this is about mothers, daughters, daughter's
daughters... roots, trees, nests, seeds, life, flowers, decay, eggs, potential,
youth... reaching, aging, death and not death. Life. Future, past,
present to before, fore, after. What, who is future? What, who is
past? Is the past here? Is now a seed, an egg, a future? Held
as one, a look at a life,as in a
locket.

My
Path to Art

I am from a small town in Iowa, where, in
the 80's, before the internet, saying you were going to be an artist had people
scratching their heads, a little worried. I bumbled my way to art school
in Chicago, was stirred around and directed toward a career in advertising art.
I followed this guidance, yet, beguiled by the smell of oil paint, I
broke with the norm and found a way to split my day between markers and a
brush. I was lucky to have Richard
Schmid as a mentor. I continue to be a student of every passionate,
creative maker that crosses my path. Professionally, I try to represent
the values of life-long learning, allowing my work to evolve in unpredictable
ways.

Fifth Place: Jeremy Manyik

Inspiration

The subject is my four year old daughter,
Acacia. I believe I have painted her more than any other person. She is always
available, and I can pay her with gummy bears! Although she is always an
inspiration for me, the motivation behind this particular piece was to do
something completely different from my previous paintings of her. My goal was
to simplify and create the conditions for a very narrow value range on the
subject. This would put the emphasis on subtle changes in temperature and
chroma.

My
Path to Art

From the time I could hold a pencil,
drawing and creating has been the only thing I ever wanted to do. Growing up, I
spent all my time drawing with my twin brother. Toward the end of high school,
I started to attend the Artist of America Exhibitions in Denver. There, I
attended demonstrations and lectures and met artists that I had only read
about. This was an introduction to a whole different art world than the one I
knew of in the rural area I lived in. That was the type of art I wanted to do!
That ignited the fire in me to keep working and to make each subsequent piece
my best.

First Honor Award: Seth Haverkamp

Inspiration

The girl in the painting is of my seven
year old, Penelope. She always does interesting hand movements and gestures as
she makes her way through daily life. I wanted to try to capture that, as well
as a hinting of childish innocence that seven year olds posses. The bird house
represents a house, they come and go. The nest is home which is where the heart
is. The house is just a place we inhabit; the nest is where we grow into
individuals and become who we are.

My
Path to Art

My college
years consisted of two different art schools, followed by a BA in Painting from
a small liberal arts school in East Tennessee. This is where I decided to
abandon illustration and focus on realism. A few years later, I spent an
amazing year at Studio Incamminati where I learned what actual painting was.
Following that, I moved to northern Virginia and took classes with Rob
Liberace. I have been painting
commissioned portraits, teaching, and showing through galleries since
2008.

Second Honor Award: Aapo Pukk

Inspiration

When I began this self
portrait, I decided to paint myself as the artist I aspire to be. From the very
start of this painting, I wanted to forget everything I knew about painting
portraits, and paint freely from my sub conscious mind without any control and
hesitation. I started the painting with only warm primary colors using them
only one at a time and then I introduced transparent, cold primaries to
complete the painting.

My
Path to Art

When did I become an artist? It happened when I was born,
because when I came into this world my mother took me from the hospital to
where she worked to the teachers’ room of the children’s art school, because
that was the only home she had. When we got a flat we were still very poor, but
we always had pencils, paper, watercolours and a brush ready. According to my
mother ,I used to sit on the floor on top of a big sheet of paper and draw all
the time, even before I learned how to speak. Today I am a teacher at the
Estonian Academy of Arts and I also organize courses of classic figurative art
at the Aapo Pukk Art School.

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The Portrait Society was formed in 1998 as a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to increase aesthetic and technical knowledge of the practicing portrait artist, agents, students and the general public. We host educational events, workshops and conferences; produce literature and other educational media; connect communities of artists and work to support artists through a range of programs and services.